Manufacturers added 16,000 net new workers, which was well below the revised increase of 41,000 seen in March. For the past five months, manufacturing has added 167,000 net new jobs. This is roughly 16 percent of all of the net new nonfarm payrolls added during this time frame. Taking a longer view, manufacturers have created 481,000 additional jobs on net since the beginning of 2010, or over 13 percent of the 3.7 million nonfarm payrolls added in the last 28 months.

Despite the lower payroll gains, the unemployment rate fell from 8.2 percent in March to 8.1 percent in April. This is obviously a movement in the right direction, as the unemployment rate was 9 percent as recently as October. With that said, the labor force participation rate has continued to edge lower, down from 63.8 percent in March to 63.6 percent in April. As such, there are now fewer people in the labor force, which helps the overall unemployment rate calculation. The so-called “real” unemployment rate now stands at 14.5 percent, which was unchanged for the month.

The average workweek for manufacturers rose slightly from 40.7 hours in March to 40.8 in April. The average amount of overtime rose from 3.3 hours to 3.4 hours. Likewise, the average weekly earnings for manufacturing workers rose from $973.54 to $977.57.

Overall, these numbers reflect recent sluggishness in the economy. Manufacturing activity, while still expanding and positive for the rest of this year, has experienced a slowing in recent months. Part of this might be due to seasonal adjustments, with some businesses taking advantage of the warmer winter.

Yet, it is also a reflection of other anxieties that continue to permeate our thinking. Higher energy and raw material costs dampened sentiment for both businesses and consumers, and worries continue to persist about U.S. fiscal policy moving forward and about Europe’s continuing struggles. This should not stop the expansion from continuing, and manufacturers should continue hiring in the coming months. Yesterday’s productivity figures help to back this up. Nonetheless, it is one more reminder of the tenuousness of this recovery, which plods forward modestly but tends to react with each new crop of anxieties.

Chad Moutray is chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), where he serves as the NAM’s economic forecaster and spokesperson on economic issues. He frequently comments on current economic conditions for manufacturers through professional presentations and media interviews. He has appeared on Bloomberg, CNBC, C-SPAN, Fox Business and Fox News, among other news outlets.